


Discoveries

by WifeofLinBeifong



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Developing Friendships, F/F, FBI, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Introvert, Lesbian, New Friends, Reader-Insert, SSA Reader, alternative character, bau, introvert reader, relationship, technical analyst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 11:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30055017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WifeofLinBeifong/pseuds/WifeofLinBeifong
Summary: You're a quiet individual and keep to yourself. It takes time, but you warm up to the team and start getting comfortable with them. Some are great friends, but one relationship develops beyond friendship.
Relationships: Emily Prentiss/Reader
Kudos: 8





	Discoveries

I’m the newest technical analyst for the BAU. The team seems close and has tried multiple times to bring me in on their group, but notices my hesitation. They’ve invited me out when they go drinking or over for team dinners, and I've thanked them for the invite, but ultimately always say no, so this means they’ve never seen me outside of the building. I’ve always been an introvert, but don’t let it get in the way of my work, which Emily has been sure to voice her appreciation. 

On this particular night, I was out at a My Chemical Romance concert for their reunite tour. I’m taking a picture of my friends and I when I get a text from Emily. When I click on the notification, I look at my friends and they know exactly what it means.

“Go. we’ll get you some merch and send you videos” I give each one of them a hug and leave to head to the office. 

Getting out is easy since everyone is already in the venue and the streets are pretty much empty. I drive with the windows down and listen to the band I was meant to see to ease the hurt of missing them play. I know unsubs don’t stop just because our team has plans, but they so owe me. I pull into my usual spot which is in line with the team's cars. They are all here and I’m the last one to arrive so I jog into the building. When the elevator doors open, I continue the jog into the bullpen and slow down not seeing everyone at the round table. My head is down when I first walk in and when I look up, they are all staring at me with shocked looks.

“What?” I ask, confused why they are so fixated on me.

“We’ve just never seen your personal clothes…...or makeup” Luke says as he gestures to my outfit.

“Didn’t know you have piercings either” I look down at my outfit then back at them.

“I like this vibe of yours” Tara says smiling at me. Everyone else begins to agree with her.

I guess I’ve built such high walls I thought they wouldn’t like the way I dress. The only person we are waiting for is Emily and I go to take my seat with my back to the door while we wait for her.

“(Y/N), what were you pulled away from?” Reid asks.

“Um….. a uh…. a Concert. The band just got back together and I was called back in before they performed” just then, my phone goes off.

“Who was performing?” Tara asks. 

Before I reply, I pull the video my friend sent me up on the TV screen, “My Chemical Romance” Everyone watches as we listen to the music and I mouth every lyric. Just before it ends, Emily walks in and is looking at the band perform on the screen. Once it's over, she sits but is stunned by my alternative outfit like everyone else. At this point, I can’t help but chuckle at the reaction.

“Y’all are finally learning new things about me after a few months of working here. Something tells me you’re not gonna let it stop here”

“Not even a little,” JJ says with a smile. Everyone laughs at the reply as they agree.

“Sorry I had to call you all in, but this needs our full attention. The unsub is in Quantico so we’re not going far,” Emily clicks on the remote a few times, “This is Thomas Rovers and Trina Bleacker. They were killed yesterday; beatings to both and twenty seven stab wounds to the woman”

“That takes a lot of strength and rage” Matt says.

“Not to mention how difficult it is to control two people” Reid comments.

“They went missing two days ago so they were held for a good amount of time before the unsub put their bodies in the alley. A missing persons report was filled an hour ago for a Trish Rista. Let’s get to work” As I start to stand to gather things from my cave, the left side of my jacket falls off of my shoulder.

“Tattoos too? We’re learning a lot about you” Rossi says. I grin at everyone and walk out, hopping over the railing.

I walk to my office to grab my laptop that's connected to the server along with some of my comfort items to bring back with me to the round table room. When I return, I set up and begin background checks on the victims as well as family members and have an active search on their social media accounts. Nothing suspicious is coming up for the three victims; their paths don’t cross in any way. Their family members are scattered and not many are in Virginia, however, there is one just on the border. All the victims had low risk jobs and seemed like very law-abiding citizens. 

“They all seem like great people. Never got in trouble with the law, all were loved at their jobs, and their online presence with people is peaceful”

“Even Trish? She looks like she would have got into some trouble” The picture we had of her showed her in some darker clothing and makeup like me and I simply glared at Luke. It took him a minute to realize who he said that to and he looked over to me, “Sorry”

“Mhm” I connect my computer to the television monitor for everyone to see, “I also did a check on family members and although there are none in Virginia, Thomas has a brother just on the state border”

“How’s their relationship?” Matt asks.

“Well, they seemed close until about a year ago. Still trying to find out what happened. Like I said, nothing negative on our victims social media, but I still need to check family”

“And what about friends?” Emily questions.

“Nothing yet”

Thomas’ brother's social media seemed to be riddled with aggression about women. I dug deep into his profile as well as other accounts to find his posts changed to the angry demeanor this year. I looked for any chats he belonged to and came across an interesting group chat for those who have a strong hatred for women. I begin my background check on the friends and family of the other two and begin to see parallels. 

“Well this is something. It seems our victim's brother, Carl, is part of a chat that’s not fond of the ladies. Very angry men” I scroll through the chat for the team to see some of the messages.

“What about our other victims?” Rossi asks.

“So that’s another thing. Trina and Thomas were abducted together and that's because they were dating. They didn’t have it on any social media, but some friends did. Here’s the kicker, before they dated, Trina dated Thomas’ brother Carl. Then Trish has a connection to another member”

I readjust in my chair so I’m sitting on one of my feet and my other knee is brought up to my chest. Just as I finish getting comfortable, an alarm on my computer goes off as an informant for another missing person.

“Well that’s not good. Someone just called saying they saw a girl being abducted. She was identified to be Andy Torell, college student at University of Virginia. She was walking out of a convenience store when she was pulled into a dark blue van”

“Dig into her background, see if she has any connections to a person in the group chat. I also want those names please” Emily announces as she stands.

“Names, contact information, and all possible addresses have been sent to all of you”

“Let’s make some visit’s people”

I begin my search for the newest girl, finding hateful comments from a guy named Derek Harlo on a lot of her posts. When going through his accounts, he seemed to also be an Ex of the victim and I looked for any trace of him in the chat. Once again, I found another connection and called Emily.

“Hey (Y/N), whatcha find?” Emily asks. 

“Andy’s Ex Derek is also in the group chat. I sent everything your way, but this guy is angry! Like A LOT of hateful comments on her social media from him”

“Ok. Oh and (Y/N)?”

“Yeah?”

“I know stepping out of your comfort zone is hard, so I want to say, you’re doing a great job and we appreciate your help. Thank you!”

“Oh um, thank you Emily!” I respond shyly. We hang up and I'm thankful no one is here with me to see the blush that is engulfing my face. 

Knowing that these people couldn’t possibly be committing these murders alone and it being a coincidence, I scan the chat for keywords like ‘jobs’ or ‘Quantico’ and even our victims names. While that’s scanning, I also try to find where the chat originated and who started it. It’s possible someone was using this chat of angry men who talked about their problems with women to find their next target. I was getting pings for the keywords faster than the trace of origination. Many people commented back to our victims ex’s or family, but there was one that stood out and would reply to every one. I tagged the username and began trying to find the owner of it but it was going to take time. I text the team an update, receiving a text back from only a few people, but understand since they are supposed to be talking to the group chat members. I get another ping from my laptop about who started the chat and it’s the same username that replied about our victims. Tracing him is difficult because his server is bouncing off of nine different towers. I try to work some of my magic, but again, it’s going to take time. My phone begins to ring and I see it’s a group call.

“Hey!”

“Carl denied knowing anything about the group chat at first, even when we mentioned his username and a few others, but he opened up once we mentioned Thomas and Trina’s murder. He didn’t know anything about Trina or Thomas’ death. Didn’t hire anyone, just rants” 

“Our guy said the same thing”

“Same here”

“Well I got a hit on the owner of the chat and it’s the same guy who replies to the comments about our victims, but this guy is bouncing off of nine towers. I’m trying to figure out a more precise area, but not gonna lie, this guy is good”

“You’re better, you can do this. We are on our way back so we’ll see you soon” The call ends and I don’t waste any time.

I get to work, clicking away at my keyboard. It’s been about ten minutes of me staring at the screen when another ping comes in. They found Trish’s body in an alley. He spent less time with her. I let out a groan and hit my head on the table before lifting it again. 

“Come on (Y/N), let’s get this guy so he can fucking rot” I say with gritted teeth.

Only a few members walk in since they discovered Trish’s body. JJ, Rossi, Tara, and Luke take a seat at the table with me. I go back to the original chat and start to scan through it for possible victims, this guy has commented on so many that it’s impossible to tell who he would target next. Luke, being somewhat techie since he has gotten some practice with the former technical analyst, grabs another laptop from my cave and works on that so I can focus on pinpointing the son of a bitch. JJ’s phone begins to ring and she puts it on speaker phone.

“Hey, he may not have spent as much time with her but he certainly did just as much damage. Just as many stab wounds too”

They continue their conversation letting me ignore it to focus on this one topic. A ping goes off for the username and I get the owner's name.

“Oh! Oh! I got him! Doug Webber! He’s the owner of the username and chat!”

“What’s his deal (Y/N)?” Emily questions.

“This guy was married and didn’t know his wife was cheating for about two out three years of their marriage. He came home with her son from a previous marriage and saw her car along with another one he didn’t recognize. Apparently she told him her brother was coming to get her, but when he walked in the house, the noises he heard were not ones you would make with a brother” I mimic a throwing up noise and reading this information, “He went upstairs to find her in bed with the guy, realized not her brother, but then he turned around and the son was in the doorway”

“He was upset she cheated and the boy saw his mother was unfaithful”

“I’m assuming they got a divorce?” Luke asks.

“Yeah. It got finalized……. a month ago”

“Well that’s the trigger, but why wait so long? I mean, He only start the abductions and killings a few days ago”

“It takes time to start up a chat and get others to join it,” I inform them, “and for all we know, he may not have planned to kill, but reading all the hatred others had pushed him over the edge” the four with me nodded in agreement.

“Need addresses please”

“Already sent”

“Thank you”

The five of us collectively spoke up, “Be careful!” and the call ended. I started doing a little of my magic to at least block messages to the chat until we had the bastard in custody. The others continued to search for other possible targets if the guy was already hunting again. 

~

They made the arrest and were on their way back to me so I decided to wait for them, although they didn’t know. In the past, Emily always told me I could go home and I always took her up on the offer, but I figured it would be nice to welcome them back. I’m watching all the videos my friends sent me of the concert while we worked the case to see what I missed.

“What are you doing here? You’re always gone before we get back” Emily says as she walks in with the team behind her.

I pause my video and grin at them, “Well,” i let out a sigh, “I figured it would be nice to share with you guys after the case that it would be nice to get to know you more sometime”

They all begin doing their own type of celebration for what i’m assuming is breaking me down, “Baby steps though you guys. This whole socializing thing is a foreign concept to me”

“Oh trust me, that came through loud and clear” Luke says as Rossi pats me on the shoulder.

“Ok, baby steps. So how does sitting at someone's house with some pizza and beer sound?” Em suggests.

“Perfect. My house?” Everyone gets wide-eyed.

“We’re even getting an invite to your place? This must be an alternate universe” Tara jokes.

“Ok now y’all are just making me regret this”

“No no no, we’ll behave, right everyone?” Rossi looks to everyone for a response. Some put their hands up in defense, some nod, and others give a verbal yes. 

I give them my address and we plan for them to come over in a few days so I can mentally prepare to socialize. At first they all thought it was a joke, but quickly came to the realization I was being serious. Emily pulls me into her office before we leave to have a quick chat.

“I want you to feel more comfortable here and since you’re usually in, as you refer to it, your bat cave, you should dress a little more like this. I mean, you’ll have to soften the edges a bit, but I don’t see a problem with your makeup and as long as you don’t have tattoos on display” I’m excited at being able to feel like myself at work. I never thought I’d be able to dress like my usual self when working for the FBI but Emily just proved me wrong.

“Thank you Em! I think i’ll definitely feel more comfortable around here in my own skin”

**Author's Note:**

> I was working on something completely different and then I watched the last two episodes of season 15 and got this idea. Well my fixation is so damn strong, so I can't ignore it. I hope you like it. I miss Pen but I should be able to incorporate her at some point.


End file.
